Column: In climate deal with automakers, California finds solution to Trump — ignore him

It became clear in February that if the country’s auto emissions and mileage standards were to be maintained, California would have to go it alone. The new agreement was reached with Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW of North America, which account for nearly one-third of auto sales in the U.S. Autos Column: Inside the breakdown of auto emission talks between California and the Trump White House There was a fair amount of perplexity at the California Air Resources Board on Feb. 21, when the Trump administration abruptly announced that it had decided to “discontinue discussions” with the state’s air quality regulator over the administration’s proposal to gut federal auto emissions standards. In its blistering comment on the Trump regulatory proposal, Honda warned that it “invites litigation and regulatory uncertainty, stalls long-term strategic industry planning, puts at risk American global competitiveness, exacerbates climate-related environmental impacts, and slows industry readiness for a widely acknowledged — but extremely difficult to implement — transition to vehicle electrification.” The Trump White House had made a show of looking to find a middle ground with California, but it was only for show. When the administration announced it had decided to “discontinue discussions” with the Air Resources Board over auto standards, state officials observed that there hadn’t been “discussions,” at least in the sense of negotiations. A mere five days after the Trump administration proposed loosening auto exhaust standards and revoking California’s authority to set its own rules, California air pollution regulators published their response on Tuesday.